Wednesday at 3:54 p.m., a shooting on the campus of Southern Union State Community College relating to a domestic dispute left one female dead and three females injured, according to Opelika Police Department Capt. Allan Elkins.
Police have named Thomas Franklin May III, 34, as a suspect. May is a 5-foot-8-inch white male and was last seen driving a white Jeep Liberty with an Alabama license place #BPW 2931.
A 63-year-old female was confirmed dead on the scene, a 93-year-old female was shot in the neck and back and was transported to Columbus Regional Medical Center via helicopter, a 36-year-old female was shot in the right arm and was transported to East Alabama Medical Center and a 4-year-old female was injured from flying glass and was also transported to EAMC.
A Toyota minivan with three windows shot out was parked in front of the Higginbotham Academic Center, which is adjacent to the Health Sciences building.
"We believe that the 36-year-old victim was actually a student at Southern Union and was being picked up or dropped off," Elkins said.
Elkins said all of the victims are members of the same family and are residents of Lee County.
Elkins could not confirm if the victims were inside of the van at the time of the shooting, but Calvin Coleman, business student at Southern Union, said he saw all of the victims in the van after the shooting.
Coleman said he was changing classes when the shooting occurred.
"A white Jeep Liberty pulled up next to the vehicle and just started shooting in the vehicle," Coleman said. "A lot of rounds were fired--it sounded like it had to have been a handgun that had a large capacity magazine. It seems like there were a lot of shots--more than there normally would be."
The driver drove away after firing the rounds, Coleman said.
Coleman said the 63-year-old victim was in the driver's seat.
"The driver, you could just see her--you just knew it looked really bad," Coleman said. "There was glass everywhere, sirens were going everywhere, people are freaking out, people are screaming, blood all over the place--it was just really bad looking."
Coleman said the students were ushered inside for their safety, but were released and told to go home for the day after police secured the scene.
"We do not believe the general community is at risk at this case--this suspect apparently found his victims this afternoon," Elkins said.
According to a Southern Union press release, the college's nursing and paramedic faculty responded immediately to assist the victims.
Southern Union and Opelika High School were locked down after the shootings, but reopened Wednesday afternoon and will continue regular hours throughout the week.
Check www.theplainsman.com for more updates.
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